Natural probiotics (and digestive enzymes) for horses are important because 1) They help your horse absorb more of the nutrients they are already receiving in hay, grain and bucket feeds; and 2) They help maintain a healthy gut, which is the basis for a healthy horse. As horses age it is often necessary to add digestive enzymes to their diets because as with most mammals, including us humans, the digestive enzymes slow down production with aging and cannot absorb or digest the same without them.

Why does a healthy gut = a healthy horse? Because the horse’s intestinal/digestive tract is the largest immune organ in its body. Probiotics play a vital role in supporting the intestinal tract – and therefore its immune health – and preventing disease.
Probiotics may help in the prevention of ulcers in horses by helping to balance the pH of the gut, and are also known to help prevent some gas as well as possibly impaction colics. New research is also suggesting that some cases of laminitis, which can lead to founder, are due to an unhealthy gut, which cannot digest the food that goes through it properly.

How It All Works

When a horse starts grinding food with his teeth, his mouth releases salivary enzymes, and thus begins that mouthful’s approximately 100-foot journey through the digestive tract. The food travels down the esophagus, enters the stomach and mixes with digestive juices and enzymes, and billions of good microbes begin their work.

The partially broken-down food then enters the small intestine, where most of the nutrients – soluble carbohydrates, along with minerals, fats and proteins – get absorbed into the bloodstream. Insoluble carbohydrates (which are the fiber) are not so easily digested, as well as any undigested soluble carbohydrates, these then pass to the cecum, the “fermentative vat” and the beginning of the large intestine. A variety of live microbes in the cecum break down the remaining food into a viable usable form including absorbable volatile fatty acids, which the horse uses for energy and nutrients.

Without a strong army of beneficial intestinal bacteria, the food moving from stomach to cecum is not “fermented” properly and some remains undigested. When this undigested food hits the gastro-intestinal tract (large and small intestine) it may lead to colic, bloat, or laminitis and increases the possibility of developing food-related allergic conditions when food is not digested properly and remains in the gut too long.

Supplementing horses with natural probiotics (a variety of strains not just one strain like in the paste type) helps to keep the intestinal bacteria populations flourishing and balanced (as there are good, neutral and bad bacteria that all live in concert in the intestinal tracts of all mammals).

These bacteria can get out of balance quickly when an animal:

Is stressed

Has been chemically wormed

Has had surgery

Has been on a course of antibiotics

Has had vaccinations

Is going through food changes

Is in competition or being trailered

Each of these can change the balance of the gut flora from stress, undermining the health of the animal.

Which Probiotics Are the Best? Getting the Proper Strength is Key

The strength of probiotics is measured in Colony Forming Units (CFUs) – often cited as:

CFU – a measure of viable (live) bacteria or fungi

CFU/mL (colony forming units per milliliter) – used for liquids

CFU/g (colony forming units per gram) – used for solids

When selecting a natural probiotic with yeast culture – to either reintroduce good bacteria after a round of antibiotics, or just replenish good gut bacteria – it needs to contain 20 billion CFU per serving of multiple strains of horse friendly beneficial bacteria, along with specific digestive enzymes to assure proper digestion begins properly so that the probiotics can do their job as well.

Read more about the horse friendly probiotics and horse friendly digestive enzymes in this Equine Wellness article which goes in to more detail and lists the probiotics and digestive enzymes.

Equine Zyme provides all of the horse friendly probiotics and digestive enzymes necessary to help keep your horse healthy and his immune system boosted! Equine Zyme, Equine Zyme Plus and Canine Wellness (a probiotic/digestive enzyme blend for your dogs) is manufactured for Earth Song Ranch by Horse Tech, a company who is a member of the National Animal Supplement Council whose manufacturing practices are some of the highest and safest in the industry. Earth Song Ranch has been in business for 18 years specializing in probiotic/digestive enzyme blends and has worked with holistic vets, microbiologists and veterinarians all over the country.

About the author: Jessica Lynn regularly contributes articles for various national and international horse publications on horse health. She is the owner of Earth Song Ranch, is an Equine Nutritionist, a feed & supplement manufacturer based in Southern California (her products include Equine Zyme and Equine Zyme Plus, and many herbal blends to improve horse health naturally), Earth Song Ranch is also a distributor for many of the HorseTech Products. Jessica has been involved in alternative health care, herbs, homeopathy, and nutrition for almost 40 years, as well as bare foot hoof care movement for over 14 years. Contact Jessica via e-mail at Jessica@earthsongranch.com or phone 951-514-9700. Visit her informative web site at www.earthsongranch.com.

Now for the Giveaway!

Jessica is giving away one 7-lb foil pouch of her Equine-Zyme probiotic, valued at $72.95.

The giveaway starts today and will last through Sunday, March 20th, which is the first day of Spring!

To enter, simply leave a comment below telling why you’d like to try the Equine-Zyme with your horse(s). A random comment will be chosen through random.org and announced on Sunday.

I run an non-profit equine rescue. I am also an equine nutritionist and recognize the importance of digestive health. I have a 30 yr old OTTB who has developed diarrhea that I cannot get under control. I have tried other pro/pre biotics. He is on a balanced diet and the hay is tested. I am hoping maybe this product is different that the commercial products I am currently using and will help him. Thank you.

Great article! I would love to try Equine-Zyme for my OTTB. I think it would help keep her immune system up during the transitions of the seasons and grass coming in. She is sensitive to any changes in the environment.

Hi guys!! I’m a barrel racer, I’ve grown up around horses and I LOVE probiotics. I have had a couple geldings in the last year deal with ulcers and probiotics were a vital component in their recovery. Afterwards I started feeding all my horses probiotics and it keep their guts so much quieter when we are travelling, changing hay, turning out. Thanks, good luck everyone!

I have a mare that is going through a six month period of pigeon fever and will need to regain her digestive health, immune system, and strength. This product will really help her. Please pick Norie, we would both be so thankful and grateful for this gift.

I do what I can to keep my horses healthy. Good food, hay and supplements, including chia & flax seeds. Proper digestion and assimilation of nutrients is foremost to their health. I would love to try you product.

I LOVE Equine Zyme! I have had my horses on EZ for about 2 yrs now. My chestnut was having symptoms of gastric ulcers and since the introduction of this product (along with slow feeding hay nets), she is a happy healthy horse again! I was just telling my farrier last week how amazed I am with the quality of hoof growth on all of my horses. I would highly recommend this product to any one with horses!

I would really like to win this to try on my Icelandic mare, she has digestive challenges and I’ve tried ‘everything’ with no or little effect 🙁
Now I hope something could help her before the upcoming grazing season ….

I’d like to try this probiotic on my lovely little mare who is having a rough patch so far this year: multiple colics lead to a workup that revealed gastric ulcers (now under treatment), corneal ulcer, uvieitis in the other eye, a vaccine reaction, and a new diagnosis of lyme disease. Mercy!

I would love to win Equine-Zyme. I have two TBs. One 14 , one 30. The older one has had digestive issues ever since having EPM at age 8. It is a constant challenge to keep he system going. I have heard good things of E-Z and would like to try it.

I would love to try the probiotics, because my horse is an easy keeper so he gets fat easily. I have to limit his intake to try to avoid founder, so I use probiotics to help his digestion. I’d love to try these out!

I very much want to try this probiotic :)….I have had my horses on Probios for 6 months and am not seeing the changes I would like:(…..I have a laminitic pony and a horse who unfortunately required 2 rounds of probiotics over the winter:( So glad to read this article and hope to win!

I would like to try this product as my gelding as just been diagnosed with ulcers. We thought we were battling colic…..regularly…..very scary. The vet put him on Aloa vera juice and next I need a probiotic. Thank You for such a great product.

For over 2 years I have been using the Herbal Wormer and each fecal test is negative. So I would love to try Equine -zyme with my 12 year old Haflinger and 15 year old Shetland pony and help them even more.

CINDY HERE WITH THREE PROBLEM CHILDS, 2 THOROUGHBREDS AND 1 PAINT( 2 HARD KEEPERS AND 1 TUBBET). TRYING TO KEEP WITH THE NATURAL PROGRAM ESPECIALLY WITH MY ONE THOROUGHBRED. VERY SENSITIVE TO WHAT GOES IN SHOWS UP IN HIS FEET AND LEGS.

My mare recently colicked and hasn’t really gone back to being herself. I’ve been reading alot about the horses digestive system and have been researching a program to keep her digestive system healthy.

We moved from Oklahoma to New Mexico last fall resulting in a significant change in diet. I have one horse who I struggle to keep worm-free. I finally had to worm him chemically last fall. What is growing in our pasture will be totally different than in Oklahoma. I have fed probiotics in the past but didn’t get the result I hoped for so I am looking for a new product.

With tem horses ranging in age from late 20s to 40s, I am always looking for better ways to feed them and maintain their health. Probiotics are great, and I would love to try this type. Thanks for giving us all a chance!

I lost a horse a year ago December to colic. I feel terrible and felt I could have done more to prevent it. Since then I have had my horses on probiotics/digestive enzymes and add a lot of warm water to their concentrate, as well as adding slow feeders for their hay. Three of my four horses are very senior so I know probiotics are important to their health. Would LOVE to win this product for my horses!

I would love to try EquineZyme. Most horses are not eating live plant foods that contain viable enzymes needed for optimal health. We do not have much fresh forage here in the high desert and the EquineZyme would be a great add on for any diet. Our recent rescue, Hana, is 20 years old now. She has had a mild case of loose stool since we got here. She is healthy in every other way, but I am feeling as the EquineZyme will be great for her digestive tract.

I live in the high desert too Deby so know what you mean about no fresh plants to provide them with the viable enzymes – that is why we added them to the probiotics and the pre-biotic blends! I wish everyone could win so their horse could too!

Would love to give this a try on my elder Arab who has had an ulcer a couple years ago and although I have been giving him all kinds of stuff(LOL) he has not quite been the same. Thank you Jessica for everything you do to help improve the lives of all out fur friends:)

Lisa this is my passion, thank you for the kind comment — I have an Arabian too, a Tevis horse, and he does so well on the daily dose of Equine Zyme his weight is good, no signs of ulcers, shiny coat & good hooves. I have done this for the past 18 years now and have never had one return on the product for it not working — everyone loves it, usually starts with the small size bag at first then they get the bigger sizes….. again thanks!

I am so excited that I’ve found this chance to a free trial of the Equine-Zyme supplement! I Have had the toughest battle with keeping weight on my thoroughbreds and I am on the hunt for my forever equine probiotic. I personally take a probiotic to keep everything running smoothly and when I started doing my research on equine probiotic it became relevant that it is equally crucial for their digestion process too! I want to make sure my ponies are getting that good live bacteria like they should! I am SO ready to be “wowed” by a horse product. Hope it can be Equine-Zyme!!!

Stephanie we work with many OTTB’s and have had huge success in keep the weight on them as well as helping them gain weight – the digestive enzymes are key — I hope you win too, if not EquineZyme is on sale from March 25th to the 31st – 10% off using coupon code CELEBRATE as it is my birthday, my mare Echo’s birthday and Easter all on the same day!

How timely! I’ve been thinking about using a probiotic. My new horse came with a possible parasite load, so I’ve been using natural (daily) de-wormer, but I’ve been thinking I need to use a chemical de-wormer this time. I know how toxic chemical de-wormers can be to all the body systems, so I decided to shop for probiotics beforehand. Thanks for the info! (And I hope I win!)

Kathy go to my web site, we have a natural herbal wormer, that coupled with the Equine Zyme has proven time and again to be a winner, many horses don’t need a chemical wormer for more than 1x in 3 years including my own! Also be sure if you are going to do a chemical wormer to do it on the full moon it will take care of more of the parasites.

I have a gelding that has had a “hay belly” for a while, I tried DFM-EQ Powder and it made a noticeable difference. An equine dentist came for my 3 horses and the younger ones, 5 and 6, were fine but the 12 year old that has the hay belly problem had problems with his back molars that, after reading your article also makes me wonder if that did add to the problem. It would be great to try your product and see if it works as well or maybe even BETTER!

I would be very interested in trying this product! In fact, after reading your article I’m thinking I need to also be on probiotics too! 🙂 I have off the track Thoroughbreds that I think would benefit from this, and one that’s in training for the TB Makeover in KY this fall.

My horse, Rio, has had a very tough go of it since October of last year. He had some sort of a reaction or seizure; and I thought I’d lose him. It has taken me months to get him back to where he is eating, again. I’ve tried hundreds of dollars worth of things…not to mention the Vet. bills! So, I’d like to try your product to see if it would bring him completely back to where he used to be. He is 18 years old…

Thank you for your site and articles. Believe the probiotics with digestive enzymes would be a great place to start. Have a horse that has been little “off his game” since injury, then proud flesh. Concerned he has gut micro biome imbalance and maybe immune system is a little off. Would love to try this!

Thank You for such an informative article, so many horses will benefit from their owners reading this. If I was chosen I would like to donate the prize to “Wild Hearts Rescue Ranch”, who do an amazing job of standing up for & challenging the rights of abused horses, rescuing, rehabilitating & Rehoming .

I recently acquired a Mustang gelding that had been thrown out in a field and was underweight with cracking feet and chiropractic issues. I have been working through his problems one by one and would love to try your product as he transitions into his new life with us. I do believe most problems start in the digestive system so this sounds like a sound product to me and would help him a lot.

About Me

Hi! I'm Casie, a freelance writer specializing in horse health. I'm certified in equine acupressure and have a great interest in equine nutrition and barefoot hoof care. The Naturally Healthy Horse encompasses all of these things, and I would love to have you follow along!

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This blog is not intended to diagnose or treat horses for any condition. It is meant solely for informational purposes. Please seek veterinary advice for any problematic condition with your horse.